signman

Purecountry495

The Amish sect today is not anywhere like it was 20 years ago or more. Those rules they live by that are different than ours, should be outlawed. Very few Amish do farming today to make a living, where they need their kids to help out. In and around Middlefield most either do construction type work, plumbing, cement work, some even have business set up at their residences. Most of them can't wait until their son is out of school after the eighth grade, to use them in their business. In other words cheap child labor, is what it actually means. Even the ones that go to public schools like other kids, don't go after the eighth grade. An there is many of them that attend our public schools. The laws need to be re-written to prevent their child labor uses. I seen one Amish kid that could not of been older than 9, doing cement work one day. They tried to say he was 15, he had a hard time just shoveling dry sand into the cement mixer. An they worked that young boy to death that day.

Purecountry495

GlendaG, you are wrong about other Amish families, not wanting prison terms for all of those involved. As for all the kids growing up without both of their parents, oh well. The parents should of thought about that before they did the crimes they committed. An their kids aren't the first ones to lose a parent, due to going to jail. Thousands of kids deal with that happening everyday. But I have spoken to about 10 or 12 Amish people about this sentencing today. All of them said, they should be locked up forever and never get out. An they don't feel bad about the hardships the kids are going to face, while the parent is locked up. An it might surprise many they fell the same way about the other Amish puck that raped those young girls too.

nmcLone

This is how the Amish/catholic church deal with crime. You do not hear about much crime in their community they take care of it themselves now we are interfering with a life style and a perverted religious belief.

@featherstone : lotta brothers be criming & they childrens be w/out them too .why do amishes be diferent if they be out criming too ?

knowitall

neversummer

This is not a federal hate crime, like it's being tried. It's not even a felony assault that would be tried on the county level. This was a misdemeanor assault that should of been handled by a local judge.

zipcityboy

Mullet's grandson got it right:"they all got their beards back, so what's the big deal?" This was from the beginning a witch hunt by the feds. The last time there were so many Amish in prison was during their bitter persecution/extermination in medieval Europe, something they hoped to escape by coming to America. Instead they are part of another American tragedy and travesty of justice.

Maliceofforethought

I believe the leader might deserve a life sentence more for the rapes and molestations he's accused of than beard cutting. I see the prospect of a life sentence as a misapplication of the hate crimes provision. That provision in the law was meant to punish real hate, hate induced violence, gay bashing, crimes of racial hatred. Under this application if two African Americans are fightin, and one calls the other a ni***r then the act is a hate crime. I do not believe a hate crime can exist between two members of the same religion, two members of the same race or two people with similar sexual orientations. Hopefully their Attorneys have investigated and made those arguments.

featherstone

touchdown

"Outlaw all Amish..." I can't believe that anyone with even the smallest understanding of the US Constitution could write something so stupid, and even worse, the morons who agreed with him.

While we're at it, let's outlaw all Jewish people, then all gays, then all gypsies. Sound familiar? (Probably not. If you're too stupid to understand "Freedom of Religion," then you're too stupid to get the Adolph Hitler reference.)

GlendaG

GlendaG

I do not believe all the crap just wrote about the families wanting him punished. I believe the state is trying to convince the American people that what they are doing is right and they will never convince me that cutting beards and hair justify a life sentence. I truly believe this has to do with money and has nothing to do with the hair cutting. This is how the Amish deal with crime. You do not hear about much crime in their community they take care of it themselves now we are interfering with a life style and a religious belief. I do not believe we should even be involved it has to do with their culture and how they handle disobedience in their community I do not believe in their way of life but it is how they live. I believe we should help get those who want out out but other than that leave them alone

stanne

Agree with Billdog. Shave the old man and all his minions in public. Send them back to their litters and pig barns. It will save a bundle and free up a cell for that disgusting goat from W. Farmington who has been raping little girls.

Billdog

I say shave is beard and head and see what he thinks of the action. Do it in the same fashion. Send men into his sell in the middle of the night, hold him down and shave away. I'm sure he won't feel the same way he thinks those he abused should feel.